近些年来，大量的专业化打造、运营网红并进行规模化内容生产的文化中介机构MCN在中国井喷式地出现，但鲜有研究探索MCN这种新型中介组织的内部运作。通过对星火公司的田野调查，以及对公司工作人员、签约博主的深度访谈，本文描摹了MCN内部的关系运作，试图回答短视频平台中介机构为何能够实现个性化文化产品的批量式工业生产这一研究困惑。为此，本文提出了“组织化的关系运作”这一理论分析框架，以突破“文化生产的平台化”这一以“技术—个体”为核心的研究范式潜在的技术中心主义局限。

研究指出，第一，MCN并非如平台化研究中所称的是一种服从性的、被动的补足组织。相反，它们会主动介入博主的创意生产，争夺创意过程的主导权。第二，规模化生产网红是MCN在平台霸权中争取自主空间的方式。而美妆网红这种与博主私人生活紧密相连的生活方式内容，以及MCN与博主在面对不确定市场环境中形成的不同逻辑，使得MCN对规模化网红生产的组织和控制需要依靠密集的人际互动。第三，运营在MCN的推动下展开了与博主的关系运作。首先，MCN在组织制度层面划定了运营在团队合作中的核心地位，为运营的关系运作提供准备。同时，管理层通过日常的谈话和观察，实时监督和调控运营和博主的关系。其次，运营的关系运作实践包含了权力和情感两个要素，具体展现为“划界工作”“情动工作”和“关系深入”三个部分。首先，运营在与博主合作的过程中，通过打造专家形象与博主划分边界，将博主边缘化，从而掌控产品的基本方向。其次，运营通过与博主的情感互动进一步巩固对创意管辖权的掌控，并实施对博主的劳动控制，激发博主的劳动热情，保障稳定、符合预期的内容产出。最后，在前两者的基础上，通过与博主建立“精神共振”的深入关系，运营进入到博主的私人生活中，将博主的日常生活转化为创意素材，并结合平台、观众、自我等多个要素重新加工素材，实现了批量式却具备个性化内容产出。然而，这种批量生产出来“生活”往往是仅存于平台之中的“平台生活”，根本上无法摆脱模式化的色彩，并推动了平台内容同质化的趋势。

本研究批判了文化生产的平台化中的技术中心主义取向，挖掘了促成平台文化工业中的关系性微观过程，同时重新审视了中介机构的角色、平台中的多种创意工作者，并扩充了社会互动之于平台文化生产的内涵和意义。

As a new form of cultural intermediary firm serving online influencers and creators on digital platforms, Multi-Channel Network (MCN) has emerged and flourished in China in recent years. Little research, however, uncovers its inside operations. Through intensive participant observation at an MCN that I called Spark and in-depth interviews with the employees and contracted influencers of Spark, this thesis examines the relationship work organized by MCN and its significance to the platform culture industry.

       Using the case of Spark, I attempt to figure out how the relational interactions during the creative process at MCN facilitate the mass production of beauty influencers on short video platforms. To this end, this article proposes an analytical framework of “organized relationship work”, to dialogue with the theoretical paradigm of "the platformization of cultural production" (hereinafter referred to as “platformization studies”).

I then argue that, first, MCNs are not a subservient, passive complementary organization to platforms, as claimed in platformization studies. Instead, they actively intervene in the creative production of influencers and manage to dominate the creative process. Second, MCNs seek to develop a pattern for the mass production of influencers, as a way for them to fight for autonomous space under the platform hegemony. Beauty influencers are a type of lifestyle influencers, whose content is tightly based on their private lives. Such a key feature makes the mass production of beauty influencer depend on frequent and intensive interactions between MCN’s agents and influencers. Also, the different logics developed by MCNs and influencers in the face of uncertain market conditions exacerbate the intention of MCNs to control influencers and the creative process. Last but foremost, driven by MCN, agents conduct relationship work with influencers. MCN delineates the core position of agents in teamwork through organizational and institutional settings. In addition, managers supervise and regulate the relationships between agents and influencers through daily conversations and observations. The practice of relationship work performed by agents contains two elements of power and emotion, which are shown in three parts: "boundary making", "affective work" and "deep relationship". First, agents make the boundary with influencers and claim their creative jurisdiction by performing experts, so as to marginalize influencers and control the directions of the cultural product. Second, agents further consolidate the control of creative jurisdiction through affective interaction with influencers, and implement labor control over influencers to stimulate their work passion, thus ensure stable and expected content output. Finally, on the basis of the first two, by establishing a deep relationship of "spiritual resonance" with the influencers, agents enter influencers’ private life. In so doing, they transform the influencers’ daily life into creative material, and reprocesses the material to match the need of markets. As a result, they make it possible to maintain a mass-produced but personalized content output. However, this kind of mass-produced "life" is often a "platform life" that exists only on the platforms, which cannot truly get rid of modelization and consequently promotes the trend of homogenization of platform content.

This study critiques the technocentric orientation in platformization studies and excavates the relational infrastructure that enables the industrialization of lifestyle content on platforms. Moreover, I revisit the role and function of intermediary organizations in the platform culture industry, bring the backstage creative workers into research, and expand the connotations of relationship work and social interactions during cultural production.